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Curry not taking the blame for defeated Warriors

Stephen Curry said his poor final quarter was not to blame for the Golden State Warriors' first home defeat in the NBA playoffs for two years.

Curry led the way with 28 points for the Warriors, but the two-time MVP went one-for-eight in the last quarter as his side suffered a 95-92 loss against the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena on Tuesday.

The defending champions held a 10-point advantage at one stage but could not prevent the Rockets from levelling the series at 2-2 in the battle to be crowned Western Conference champions.

All-Star guard Curry missed what would have been a game-tying three pointer in the closing stages, so the Warriors will go into game five in Houston smarting from their first home-court loss in the postseason since they were beaten by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016.

However, Curry did not feel his failure to meet his usually high standards late in the game was the reason for the setback.

“They were just missed shots. I had a wide-open one on the right wing, in and out. Early in the fourth, got a little rushed. Got a shot blocked, missed a lay-up." he said.

"I could sit here and nitpick all you want. [I] had some decent looks that didn't go down, but that's not why we lost."

Looking ahead to the rest of the series, Curry said the Warriors will be confident of regaining the initiative at Toyota Center on Thursday.

"I don't think the mindset is any different. We went in game one, and took care of business. We know what it's like to win in that arena. We should be ready to go." he added.

"We need to reset, put together a pretty solid, 48-minute game, and steal one down there. It would be nice if it was a closeout game, but it's not.

"We can regain control of the series if we go down there and play a complete game, and we've shown we can do it before. I think the vibe in the locker room is really positive right now when it comes to what we need to correct when it comes to winning game five."